little kitten

@dinahinthehat

❝  I  DON’T  KNOW  ,  ❞  Alice  sighs  ,   ripping   a   fluffy  piece  away  from  the  sweet  bread  in  front  of  her  ,  popping  a  bit  into  her  mouth  ,  ❝  I  know  food  can  help  your  body  in  many  ways  nutritionally  ,   but  it  would  be  so  much  better  if  it  could  do  useful  things  ….  like  make  you  grow  taller  or  change  your  appearance  for  the  day   ….  what  do  you  think  Dinah  ?  ❞  Alice  tilts  her  head  ,  letting  her  syllables  drift  off  to  the  dreamland  she  had  already  entered  .  

The girl nods in a way to say “I see your point” as she licks custard cream off of her finger. “You mean– food should work kind of like a potion, right?” She speaks before taking another spoonful out of her raspberry tart. “I mean it would definitely be fun, but then you’d have to really think before eating anything. Like, say I want a cookie, but then I’d have to think well if I eat that cookie then I’ll be as tall as my house... do I want to be as big as a house right now?”

“Alright. Coolio.” Rainie nodded. “How long do you think it will take you? I could help if you wanted.” Rainie didn’t usually hang out with girls like Dinah, but she was too sweet for Rainie to be rude to her.

"Hmm” She brings the pink chalk-stick up to her lips as she visualizes the street before her. “Honestly? Probably a lot.” The girl concludes with a chuckle. “But I don’t really have anything else to do today! You’re very welcome to join, here–” She breaks off her own stick in half and hands it to Rainie.

She raised an eyebrow. “Yes, it is. Is it for anything special?” 

“Well... it depends on what you count as special.” At the last word, it comes out as more of a question rather than a statement. She gives a light laugh though. “I wanted to draw something but then I couldn’t really think of anything? Other than circles. So the plan is to draw circles throughout the street and see if it looks pretty.”

“That’s true, I guess,” she nodded. Although she personally can’t remember the last time she even sharpened a real pencil. “I enjoy the fact that I don’t have to carry around a pencil sharpener. One less thing I won’t end up losing - or letting Lloyd borrow and never get back.” 

 “Hmmm” Dinah starts with a nod and a smile, “A mechanical pencil’s life is a lonely one for sure. Doesn’t need any sharpener to keep them company.” Truth is, she probably could talk for a couple more hours about pencils. In fact, she probably had already talked about pencils for an hour or two; However, she doesn’t feel like the other can go on for as long. With an awkward pause, she takes the pencil back into her grasp and smiles once more. “Well, thank you anyway.”

      ❝  really ?  oh …  but that’s alright .  you see ,  sometimes the trailer is scarier than the movie itself !  ❞   which sally supposed was a marketing strategy ,  a way to catch the viewer’s eye and bring them to the movie theater .  it was effective ,  but the disappointing feeling after watching the actual thing wasn’t the best .  regardless ,  she didn’t mind it ;  some movies were good ,  some weren’t .  that’s just life .  with a small smile ,  she offered the brunette a small shrug .  ❝  are there any movie adaptations you like ?  i …  i really enjoy jane austen .   pride & prejudice  is my favorite book ,  and i actually do like the movie .  ❞

“I think I’m just not built for scary things... I once watched– what’s its name? The one with the clown? I cried halfway through and I have not been able to look at a clown in the same way.” Dinah tells her story and through it is not a pleasant memory of her being curled up in her seat at the movie theatre, she does laugh at the ridiculousness of it. “But I love Jane Austen!” The girl exclaims leaning closer in her seat. “Emma is my favorite but I read Pride and Prejudice and I loved every second of it. I think... I mean, yes. I loved the one with Kiera Knightly and I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t watched Clueless about 15 times.”

     “Of course, hun, come on in. I can grab you some spare clothes and toss yours in the wash if you’d like? Or the dryer, at the very least.” As Attina said this, she hurriedly opened her door, ushering the girl inside and into the warmth of her house. She leaves Dinah in the front room for a moment, retreating into the guest room and returning with sweatpants and a t-shirt. “These should fit, at least well enough until yours are clean again,” she smiled, “bathroom is on the left.”

"Oh thank you! you’re too nice.” Dinah says while following the other into her home. In the back of her mind the voice of her mother gives her some lecture on how she's abusing Attina’s generosity, but before the girl could say spare clothes weren’t really necessary, the other had returned with them in hand. Now it would be for more rude to refuse. Dinah accepts them with a smile and nods at the given instructions while setting the book down on one on a table. A couple of minutes later she’s changed into some very cozy and warm clothes and is now walking out of the bathroom with both hands on her hips. “Where did you get such comfy sweats? they’re so nice.”

the mortification the girl whose pencil he’s holding is feeling is evident on her face and slightly can’t help but feel a bit sorry he’d spoken up. he wasn’t in any way upset with her, however, he’d just been taken by surprise by the flying object, and he tried to convey that he was chill in the way he held himself. shoulders relaxed, expression soft. “hey, it’s okay. no worries! really.” he assured, offering a soft smile. “ ‘s just not every day you get a pencil projectile launched at you from across a café,” he joked, smile widening. and he shook his head at her question. “nope! clothes are safe and clean! ‘s all good, promise.” and then, “you good, though?”

toulouse stares intently at the flower petals, as if at any second they’re going to give him the answer he’s looking for. his head turns quickly a second later, a delayed response to dinah’s question. “verdict? of what?” he questions, eyes narrowing before his mind keeps on moving forward without getting an answer from her. “verdict is i have artist’s block and i read somewhere that doing some stupid figurative type, still-life bullshit might help somehow. but uh, here i am, staring at flower petals, and nothing. absolutely nothing.” toulouse chuckled, “whatever.” he mumbled, hand wrapped tightly around the journal in his hand. 

Dinah listens– patiently. It’s not like she has anything better to do with her time, really. While he speaks, she glances up a couple of times, but her focus lies on the same petals he’d been staring at just now. Her head tilts to the side and her fingers come to linger against her bottom lip. Still-life, that’s a concept she knew! Many pretty paintings on museums belonged in that category– or at least that’s what the guy had said in the tour she’d taken a couple of weeks ago. “They look nice... Well not nice nice but kind of– sad actually.” Dinah comments with a shrug and a smile. “You know I’m no artist, but I think the best way to get your creativity back is to go around town and explore. There’s even this app that supposedly helps you get lost in your own city. See things in a different light.”

“Yeah, I guess she is.” Rainie chuckled slightly, taking the board from the girl. “What’re you doing, if you don’t mind me asking?” The Sugar Racer asked curiously.

"Well..." She turns to the circle on the floor–colored only halfway. “It’s a pink circle” Dinah finally states, with a smile on her face and a small ( enthusiastic ) nod.

Terence was someone who constantly reached out to his professors when he had problems. Their names were practically ingrained into his brain after regularly addressing them in those emails. Not to mention, he did extensive research using those professor rating websites before choosing one,  so he was caught off guard when she didn’t remember the name. “Huh. I guess so, but I’ll be sure to not make matters worse next time, how does that sound?” He spoke in a joking manner.

The Hispanic liked to think he had a pretty good read on people, but judging by how quick she turned the attention to his study, it didn’t take an expert to pick up that she didn’t care for hers. “Me? Oh, I study biomedical science.” He kept his eyes on her for a moment longer before letting himself follow the pencil on the paper. “A chemist of sorts. Not a doctor. Let’s make that clear,” he huffed in a lighthearted fashion and took a sip of his tea, trying to figure out what she was drawing. “Is there— some deep meaning behind this, or am I overthinking it?”

Dinah shakes her head for a moment, letting a silly smile form. Her brows are slightly knit together when she looks up, for a moment, to meet his gaze. “How is our next encounter to be memorable, then?” She asks in the same lively spirit, before letting the pencil rest on the table ( and this time staying on that table ) and taking a sip from her still warm-to-touch mug.  Moments later she’s back to tracing thick lines outlining petals and some other thinner ones creating the basics of shadow and depth. As he speaks, she lets her hand move across the paper almost mindlessly, stealing a couple of glances his way every now and then. 

Biomedical science. That’s something worth exploring. Not that she knew exactly whatever he spoke of as he assured the difference between what he did and what one might immediately assume. With curious eyes, she explores his features for a second. “I would’ve assumed– wait, oh okay no I was thinking biomedical engineer... are you studying to make medicines then? or is it– just not that kind of chemistry at all?” She asks with half a laugh. “Hmmm if anything, though, I think people often underthink things. What does it look like?”

THAT’S  HER  PENCIL  THOUGH  .  Adira  smirks  ,  holding  the  pencil  between  two  manicured  fingers  ,  ❝  of  course  it  is  .  here  you  go  .  ❞  she  hands  it  over  ,  pausing  at  contact  between  the  two  .  She  doesn’t  let  go  at  first  ,  keeping  her  gaze  fixated  on  the  other  ,  ❝  you  hang  out  with  alice  lee  .  ❞  she  states  the  somewhat  common  knowledge  ,  at  least  common  enough  to  those  their  age  .  

At the pause, her eyes fix on her own. Words don’t escape her mouth but for a brief moment her eyes bare a question mark. “Most days.” Dinah confirms with a small nod, very uncertain as to where the other means for the conversation to go.

She didn’t mind the rain, the rain helped the plants grow and it only made it harder for people to find her secret hangout. But it did make it a bit annoying to go outside although she still went none the less. The girl’s blonde and curly hair was frizzy due to the water in the air and she quickly found haven in a small coffee shop, the aroma quickly making her feel at peace. That was until a small yellow pencil rolled under her vans that popped from Dinah’s direction. The girl walked quickly towards the girl and sat at her table, not even asking permission. “So usually, you’re supposed to keep the pencil in your hand and typically not throw it at walk-ins.” 

"I’m really glad you didn’t trip on it, though...” Her tone is quite confused on whether it means to be an exclamation or a question. Dinah’s lips create a forced smile in response that only lasts a couple of seconds before she goes for the pressing her lips shut look. She’s a little surprised at the intrusion, but for some reason she doesn’t exactly find it unwelcome.

“Don’t think me to weird. It is all a costume for an audition i have going on, but method acting seems to be attracting quite a lot of attention lately,” he raised both arms, sighing as the hot fabric draped over him. “Which means it’s something i need to give a try. The play screams person hiding from people by dressing as someone on a weird sort of pilgrimage.” Francis’ nose wrinkled as a piece of hair fell onto it, itching away at it. “Do i look the part?”

“Sure!” Dinah says, though doubt resides both on her tone and her knit-together brows. Correction– Not doubt, but... some sort of mix between confusion and curiosity. “I’m curious though. Why is this person hiding? and why would they choose this kind of disguise–  is some sort of satanic cult chasing them or something?

“these flowers? no, they’re not for you. i mean, i don’t know if you thought they were for you, but if you did, you were wrong. i was actually just going to put them on the ground. sort of, all over- like…” toulouse motioned with his hand, before quickly shaking his head. “i don’t know how to explain it so i’m just going to go ahead, if that’s alright with you? and even if it’s not, honestly, i’m still gonna do it. whoops. you don’t have to move or anything, i don’t care. i just need to see what it looks like, okay?” toulouse always made sure he acted as though he didn’t care what others thought about him. most of the time he really didn’t. well, okay, sometimes- but let’s go for most of the time. 

“I didn’t” Is all she says halfway through his speech– a half smile in place. Then she goes quiet and stands still as she watches him move about and give some half sized explanations. She’s familiar with such behavior, but she can’t say she’s not specially curious since it comes from him. She doesn’t nod as he proceeds– she doesn’t think she needs to given he probably wouldn’t care anyways. Instead her eyes follow his hands and drift down to where the flowers are now displayed... and she smiles, though she’s still trying to understand where exactly he’s trying to get to. “What’s the verdict?”